Socializing kittens

Hi all - not sure if this is in the right forum, but I'll give it a try.

We brought home two kittens from a rescue about three weeks ago - Pixel (female) and Pilot (male) are about 12 weeks old now. Prior to living with us, they were in a foster home, having been found outside with their mother who had died when the kittens were about three weeks of age.

The kittens are still living in a separate room in the house - our tortie, Rosie, who has a definite 'tortitude', got quite stressed with the change and had some stomach issues, so we are taking the introductions slower than we had originally planned.

My question is this: we are spending at least an hour a day dedicated to playing with the kittens in their room, but I'm worried that they're not getting enough interaction and socializing. They're not bored by any means - they have lots of toys, and they could chase each other and scale the cat tree all day. I'm not quite sure what 'normal' kitten behaviour should be at this stage, but both Pixel and Pilot 'play attack' our hands and feet constantly, and Pilot has developed a rather painful habit of trying to climb legs, backs, arms, etc. with his very sharp kitten claws.

We are wondering what, if anything, we can do to keep them from drawing blood on a regular basis . I know that kittens will be more rambunctious than older cats, but I'm worried that it could be a symptom of not getting enough human interaction?

I'm probably worrying too much (these are our first kittens), but if there's something that we need to be doing that we're not, I'd want find out sooner rather than later!

Thanks in advance!

I am no expert by any means, having just got my kitten yesterday. (I have had numerous kittens in the past, but its been 14yrs since I had a kitten).

I think an hour a day of play time is pretty good. I wonder if you could space it out if you think its not enough...Have 2 or 3 shorter play periods instead of the one play time.

I don't know what to say about the kitty claws. I do not believe its a sign of them not getting enough attention.....even when I had my older cat, he would climb up my jeans (only jeans) and I wouldn't feel his claws. I let him do this because we both enjoyed it. He would 'kneed' my belly or wherever he was laying, but he did it gentle. When he stuck his claws in too far, I would gently grab his paws and move them away. He learned to be gentle with time and continous reinforcing of what was acceptable.

My kitty likes to hang out on my back/shoulders, and I do feel his nails... I just try to make sure I have a sweatshirt or something handy LOL. Made the mistake of picking him up without a shirt on as I was getting ready for bed... ummm. OUCH LOL. lil kitty claws on my back as he tried to get a good hold.

You are not alone in your worries.... its been so long for me since I had a kitten that I'm worried about every little thing. Personally, I know I need to quit worrying, and just enjoy my furbaby. I hope you can do the same... Sounds like your kitties are normal, healthy, rambunctious kittens. I think spreading out the play time, would give them more interaction with them...but if not possible, then a dedicated hour is good

You can clip their claws to cut down on the pain. Just take off the very tip. Those little needles are really sharp!

There are threads around here about training cats not to bite, but as much as anything, the two kittens together will teach each other not to bite.

Kitten always act like that.
I got my new kitten yesterday and she bites and grabs me with her claws.
They will stope when they are older.

Congratulations
While you are waiting for them to adjust if possible have other people visit with them as much as possible. It would be good to if you can lock the older cat up for a bit each day and bring the babies out so they can explore thier new home. It is important for them to get used to other people and situations. My two kittys came from a cattery and were around other cats and many people but when we brought them home they came down with ringworm shortly after. For 3 mos. they never saw anyone but myself and hubby, I didn't let anyone get around them. Now they are scared of other people. We missed out on an important phase of socialization and I doubt we will ever be able to fix it.